Allegations of sexual assault, drink-spiking and more are only coming out in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, because they never seemed newsworthy before.

That’s what one of the guests on BBC Radio 4’s The Media Show was saying as This Writer drove home from the supermarket earlier today (November 1). It may even have been Guido Fawkes blogger Paul Staines.

If that’s true, then whoever reported Mr Weinstein’s alleged crimes has done the women (and no doubt many men) of Westminster a huge service.

Now these stories are newsworthy.

Maybe now they will be considered worth investigating by the Metropolitan Police.

This Writer doesn’t have much hope in that respect – the Met, like a certain other police ‘service’ of my acquaintance, has a tendency to avoid looking into allegations involving members of a sitting government and – let’s be honest – even historical allegations face a wall of apathy from the boys in blue.

But public opinion is on the side of the victims.

If anybody reading this has a story, to tell the police, now is the time.

A woman victim has told how the Conservative MP she worked for sexually assaulted her in her office at the House of Commons, approaching her from behind and grabbing at her crotch.

She later told the Commons authorities what had happened – but they said there was “nothing they could do”.

In a second shocking case, a former Conservative Party aide reveals that she went to police after her drink was “spiked” with a suspected date rape drug in Strangers’ Bar at the House of Commons, a drinking den reserved for MPs and their guests.

A police officer told her it was “not the first time” that allegations of drinks being spiked had been made at the Commons.